


Before You Go

by cherritrees



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Underfell (Undertale), Bara Sans (Undertale), Dad is dead, F/M, Frisk (Undertale) Is a Sweetheart, Gen, Houseplant Flowey (Undertale), No Smut, Nonbinary Frisk (Undertale), Papyrus is a cool dude, Protective Sans (Undertale), Reader Is Not Chara (Undertale), Reader Is Not Frisk (Undertale), Reader Is Not Kris (Deltarune), Reader-Insert, Sans (Undertale) Has Issues, Sans (Undertale) Remembers Resets, Selectively Mute Frisk (Undertale), Slow Burn, UF!Sans/Reader - Freeform, Underfell, Underfell Asgore Dreemurr, Underfell Flowey (Undertale), Underfell Grillby (Undertale), Underfell Mettaton (Undertale), Underfell Papyrus (Undertale), Underfell Sans (Undertale), Underfell Toriel (Undertale), Underfell W. D. Gaster, Underfell kind of sucks, asgore is insane, he just needs a hug, papyrus is a huge dork still, reader is adventurous, sans isn’t that bad, sans x reader, sans/reader - Freeform, underfell!sans/reader - Freeform, you know that snake off of hazbin? that’s papyrus
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-08
Updated: 2020-02-08
Packaged: 2021-02-27 20:33:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,030
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22611835
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cherritrees/pseuds/cherritrees
Summary: You’re a free spirit in search for what your soul has been wanting for years on end, unafraid and untainted by the world around you.(underfell!sans/reader)
Relationships: Sans (Undertale) & Reader, Sans (Undertale)/Reader, Sans (Undertale)/You
Comments: 4
Kudos: 25





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> this work will also be posted on Quotev under my username @peivis!  
> be sure to follow my tumblr @cherritrees!  
> 💖💖💖

After weeks on end of begging, pleading, and bargaining with your mother, the older woman finally had agreed to let you travel on your own to Ebott's grand Festival of the Monsters-- a festival made in honor of the brave humans who saved the land from the creatures of Cain; not that most had believed such a story was real, of course. What everyone did know, however, was the festival had been celebrated at the foot of the mountain that lay there for centuries; this would be your first. The history of the older town called to you since you were young, and every September fifteenth lights would parade the sky that you could see from your window above the mountain like shining stars. Of course, your older brother questioned your ability to hold your own on a trip two towns over, being just as overprotective as your widowed mother.

_"Do you know what you're getting into, (y/n)? Are you positive you don't want me to go with you?" The older boy pried and put a strain on the word "positive". Obviously, he didn't care for the sound of his grown baby sister going out by herself on a weeks trip alone. Yet you stood your ground and shook your head in his direction and shut off the sink water, dripping purple grapes still in the strainer._

_"You worry-wart, of course I'll be fine. I'm plenty old enough, Cedric. What's got you all worried?" You looked at the much taller, wider sibling of yours and stood on your toes to pick some stray fuzz out of his red-tinted beard. His face grew more upset at your pushes to get an answer out of him. "You went when you were my age."_

_". . . There's something in that mountain that just doesn't set right in my soul." He pressed your hand into his cheek, having you look into his tired green eyes that lacked light due to his hat blocking it. You both stood silent in the kitchen with the saddest staring contest in history until Cedric broke the silence in the small room. Your smaller hand dropped to your side as he sat in the dining room on a chair with a shake of his head. "Promise me you will not talk to anyone with the name of Agnes."_

_"Why?"_

_"Just--!" You flinched at his aggravated voice until it inevitably softened on his tongue. "Just promise me. Please?"_

_You were awfully confused by his lack of explanation; it was times like these he would tell you a story and maybe a joke or two. Why he was being so emotionally closed off bugged you, yet you inevitably shrugged it off and continued to wash the grapes in the strainer that laid in the sink._

Sliding down the banister and dancing towards your mother as she played a folk song on her fiddle, you grinned brightly and kissed her wrinkled cheek. "Sounds better than ever, mom. You'll knock them dead at the Scots-Irish festival next month."

"Hah! Thank you dear, but you make it sound like you're going to be gone forever. It's only a week!" The woman chortled at your excitement, setting the fiddle and bow into the case. As she closed the folder with her music and set the stand to the side you gripped your backpack in pure happiness. "Jacket?"

"Check."

"Overnight things, charger?"

"Got it."

  
"Hair brush and clothing?"

  
"Who would forget?"

"Under garments?"

  
"Mooom!" You whined as she walked past you in a careful stride with an accompanied giggle, looking in the long body mirror at herself and played with her bouncy, short brown hair with stripes of grey hidden like careful treasures in it. Her wedding ring gleamed on her finger in the artificial light of the living room and her dress seemed to be a creamy color, even though you knew it was more pink that anything. She was a beautiful woman who raised you smart, but also to be adventurous and independent. You followed her in clumsy steps and stood next to her, a bit shorter but standing just as straight as she played with your hair.

"God, you look so much like him," She cupped your face in her shaky, frail hands, sliding her fingers over your cheeks with the brightest smile. "He would be so proud." Your mother kissed your forehead and hugged your plush body to hers.

"I love you, mom." Returning the hug, you pressed your face into her neck.

"I love you, too, darling," Your mother held you a bit longer before wiping a stray tear and pushing you away with a grand, quirky grin. "Now, I have a surprise." She reached behind the nape of her neck to unhook her locket, presenting it to you. "This has been in our family for centuries. The family myth is that a righteous queen presented it to Murdina, one of our ancestors. It's been passed down to each woman in my family ever since, and now . . . It's your turn. It can't be opened due to it's age, but," She turned your back to face her and pressed the emblem locket into your chest. The golden glow of it caught your eyes as the three triangles gleamed in harmony under the lights of your home. You looked back up at your mother as she clipped it, fully turning as her hands clasped in pure awe. "It's still an honor to wear."

"It really is," You smiled at the gift and tightly hugged your mother around her waist like you used to as a child and pulled away after a moment before you looked at the time on the wall. "I have to catch the bus before it leaves. I promise to text you!" You kissed her cheek one last time as she waved you on with a kind "goodbye". You were at the door when you saw your brother standing there with a small, embarrassed smile on his cheeks.

"Did you think I wasn't going to see you off?" He sounded almost offended and placed you into a headlock, giving you a rough noogie. Cedric let go of you after you pleaded for him to stop and snickered as you fixed your hair with a huff in a nearby mirror. Just as that night last week he confronted you, it was silent. Then he hugged you as you combed at your hair with your hands, caught off guard by your bother's antics. "Be careful, doofus. Don't do anything I wouldn't do, all right?" You nodded in agreement with a gracious grin as he let go. You opened the door to see the bus honking at you with a wave of the kind driver's hand.

"Bye, you two! Don't get into any trouble without me!" You let out a breathy laugh as the pit of your stomach bubbled with nervous excitement, feeling something in your body do flips of joyousness. You shut the door behind you and heard the click of the lock. Impatient, you began walking backwards a few steps before turning on your heal and nearly booked it to the bus with your ticket in hand. The woman opened the doors and happily took your ticket before looking back at you as you took the seat closest to the front of the bus, three others and a small family on it already.

"Ebott City, hm? Are you headed to the festival?" She questioned you with a smile on her chubby cheeks and you nodded with a bright grin that could rival the sun. She nodded once back and closed the bus doors, driving off to the city you were so anxious to finally get to.


	2. Chapter One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Fall.

It was about half an hours travel from your city and Ebott, some people getting off and boarding the small travel bus along the way to the elder town. A grin spread on your face as the festival's pre-activities took place while monster costumes (accurate to the town's history books) took hold of the people in the town and music boomed throughout the base of the mountain. Booths scattered throughout the trail way and children ran around in costumes with sparklers and lanterns in hand. As you stared out your window in awe with one hand pressed against it, you took in the sights and the feeling of adrenaline coursing through your entire body. Your bus driver made an inevitable stop at your destination with a shriek of the bus, announcing the halt at it's station. You thanked her dearly with a five dollar tip, taking your bag and practically jumped off the automotive. The sun was setting already and your phone said it was about six in the evening as you checked it quickly at the bus stop; the festival would begin once the lanterns scattered the skies' blanket of darkness. You ventured down the trail and looked around at all the booths; some including everything from family crests to old tapestry made by the elders of Ebott. You wandered eventually to the center of the festival where a stage was lit under a white tent you've seen appear at soccer games and school field days. The band on stage seemed to be playing the old song "Danny Boy". Some of the crowd hummed along in tune as children's laughter flooded behind you-- your soul pulled you closer to the mountain with each crescendo of the music, but you ignored it's wishes and joined the crowd of people around you in harmony while the sun set and thousands of lanterns shining like stars filled the night sky. A loud cheer erupted from the crowd of thousands and you soon joined in not too far behind, a few couples kissing under the artificial stars above and you smiled, gripping your newly gifted locket from your mother.

You had only been there for forty-five minutes by now and had bought a small loaf of homemade bread, along with a few white upside down heart-shaped gems for your mother's gem collection. You started to leave the festivities since you needed to check in at your hotel down the street when you felt a small tug on your soul pulling you back into the gateway of the festival grounds. You looked behind you to see an old woman under a navy blue tent smiling at you. Time seem to stop as you gulped quite loudly in your own ears, yet people still walked around you and laughed the night away. You looked back at the gate before walking towards the eerie woman.

“Uhm, hello,” You greeted politely, trying your best to keep your voice steady in your throat. She only smiled and directed you at the chair in front of her, and without your own mind’s consent, your body made the choice to sit in the old wooden chair. You looked at the people passing by as the uncomfortable silence grew between the two of you, no one seeming to think much of the worried sight on your face— or at least no one noticed. Searching back into her eyes for an explanation, your hand flew onto the table with a small squeak coming from your mouth and she folded her own bony, cold hands over your own. “Ma’am, I—!” You began before she put a figure up to keep you from speaking any longer.

”Ah! ‘Yer soul speaks for yee,” Her accent was unlike any other, and you couldn’t pinpoint where it was from, exactly. She gave you a shaky smile, dripping with sweetness. You bit your tongue and listened closely, staring at her for an explanation of what she means. “Dearest, ‘yer soul is yearing ‘fer more. Can you not feel it?”

”I—!“

”And that Rune,” The old woman reached out to touch the locket, but you covered it in your free, now closed off clutch. She smiled again, but more sinisterly. “Hm. It belonged to an ancient queen, did it not?”

”Well, yes,” You nodded, finally able to get your shaky voice in. “It was a gift.”

”(Y/N),” She began.

”How did you—?”

”’Yer soul is searching ‘fer your destiny.” A flame seemed to arise in her piercing green eyes at the mention of the word, and you could feel your mouth go a bit dry in pure anxiety.

”What is my destiny, miss...?”

”Agnes.” She told you, letting go of your other hand while you quickly pulled it back to your side. You felt a great weight lifted off your shoulders as she licked her wrinkled thin lips and smirked. You had officially went against your brothers wishes, yet . . . You needed to know what your destiny was.

”Miss Agnes,” You muttered, placing your hands in your lap and choosing to sit and chat with her. “Why,” You thought for a moment how to phrase your question. “Why have I always been called to the festival? It’s like . . . I’m meant to be here in Ebott. But not here here. I’m meant to be . . .”

”Climb to the top of the mountain an’ take some elderberries for me, dear. Bring them back to this tent before dawn an’ I will be able answer any question you may have about past lives, ancestors and ancient callings, but I certainly cannot without those precious wild berries that only grow at the top of that mountain. As an old lady such as myself, I cannot climb as well as I used to in my youth, but you,” She reached over the table and patted your paled cheek as she asked this of you. “Are so young an’ capable of climbing.”

You sat still for a moment until standing and giving her a determined nod, holding your backpack straps with a tight grip. “Yes, ma’am.”

”Now go on, las!” She shooed you out of her booth with a small sigh and a shake of her head.

——

As you made it to the near top of the mountain, a big, gaping hole and a few roots lie in the way. You crouched and looked around the brush, finding a quite heavy stick from a dead bush laying by the trail and dropped it down into the hole. It took six seconds for it to hit ground and you cringed before standing to your feet and looking out at the view. You smiled to yourself, taking the mountain air and breathing it in, and as it filled your lungs you closed your eyes. You opened them back up with a content, easy smile as you looked out at the bright full moon heavy in the sea of navy blue above you. Stars scattered like sprinkles on a cake throughout it, and you could have sworn it would’ve been more peaceful if nothing had snapped behind you at that moment. You looked around to see nothing and a sudden feeling of uneasiness drained your body of color. After a moment you started moving again to an old tree to take the elderberries off of it’s branches, the purple juices staining your fingers like paint in your high school art classes. You cursed to yourself after hearing a human-like bird caw in the bushes. Searching your area to find nothing once again, you shook your head at the paranoia and turned to start walking at the top of the trail once again, holding the berries in an old Ziplock you had stored in your backpack. You looked up from putting the Ziplock into your black backpack to see Agnes standing there with what only could be described as a psychotic smile on her wrinkled, pale white face. You put your bag back on your back anxiously. ”Miss Agnes, I was just on my way back down—!”

”Hush!” The old woman shouted as drums hit bellow in the village. “I know, dear, and ‘yer such an obedient young girl with such a fiery spirit,” You could feel your body shutting down but your brain was awake as if you were having sleep paralysis, hands clinging to your locket as if your soul wanted to protect it— like it was your lifeline. She gave a hmph, yet her smile remained. “Oh, dear, it’s such a shame so many young humans had to suffer in that poor, pitiful Hell where monsters vow to get revenge on those that kept ‘em hidden from the sun.”

”Those are just children’s tales!” You spat, losing your patience as the woman gave you three tsks. A chill ran down your spine when her eyes looked through you, her wrinkly lips licked once again by her pale tongue.

“Seven souls are needed ‘fer the beasts to be released and kill the human race ‘fer it’s prejudice actions in the past— holding festivals in honor of those who started a war an’ trapped an entire race. They’ll keep me an’ make me some sort of god in their small, dumb little minds knowing I freed them. ‘Yer the final sacrifice! And I hadn’t waited three centuries ‘fer nothing,” She gripped at your shoulders with her bony, cold fingers and held you tight as her long nails cut into your skin and broke the flesh, fear coursing your body as you struggled your damnedest to move, hyperventilating. Your hot breath showed up as smoke in the now cold air as she looked down into the hole before making eye contact. “It’s a such long way down, an’ if you fall,” You felt the shove and the unlocking of all your muscles as whatever witchcraft keeping you still was released, a scream finally erupting as you fell down the hole. _“Who would miss you?”_ You heard echo as the beat of bass drums from the festival thrummed in your soul and through the mountain. You began to loose sight as Agnes turned around and walked off with a final laugh like she was some villain in a Disney movie, the fear and adrenaline causing you to black out until you finally hit the ground in a soft pile of buttercups.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the complete stranger who offered to help (y/n) find her heart’s greatest desire if she climbed a mountain for some random berries: pushes her down the mountain’s hole
> 
> (y/n): **surprise pikachu**


	3. Chapter Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Caretaker.

Your (e/c) eyes snapped open a few minutes after you hit the soft flower petals at the bottom of the gaping hole, groaning in pain as you sat up and looking towards your entrance point. You slowly stood to your feet with a slight wobble to your balance and had quickly spat out the metallic flavor in your mouth to the side with a distasteful expression. You got into your backpack (which seemed to have had a part in helping cushion your fall) and took out a mint to cover whatever the odd taste in your mouth was than popped it in, shoving the wrapper back into the bag and slinging the bag over your shoulder once again. As you looked around, tiny footprints looking much like converse had trailed into another room and you had finally gotten the feeling you weren't alone. You stood there for a moment in thought as if you forgetting something before letting out a nervous yet sharp inhale and checked your chest to find that-- yes-- the locket was still wrapped around it in a loose hug.

_All right, I just have to follow the trail of footprints out of this place and make my way home, right? It shouldn't be that difficult-- maybe a day's walk at most? It's only a cavern._ You promised yourself as you rounded the corner of the red doorway to see a lone buttercup flower under the shining moonlight. It blew a little in the breeze softly and you smiled with a small sigh, finding it phenomenal that something could grow in such a cold, damp area. Yet, you walked on past it and followed the trail of little sneaker prints into another room to see someone with short brown hair standing in a cherry pink bricked entrance hall with-- _oh my fucking God._

A gasp escaped your throat as a child and a large goat beast with matted, snow white fur looked back at you with certain surprise and a quizzical look as they held hands. The goat looked at you with piercing yellow eyes and cocked their head a bit to the side, the kid seeming almost worried, in a way. Like you weren’t supposed to be here. They looked up at the goat and then pointed to you, to which the large goat nodded and spoke in a soft and motherly voice.

"Hello, dear child-- I am Toriel, caretaker of the RUINS. I thought Frisk was the only one down here, but it seems that is not the case," She, you understood, let go of the child’s hand and you could see on the front of her robe seemed to be the same emblem on your old locket. “Are you one of their human friends?”

”I, well, uhm--?” You stammered out in a confused manner, running a hand through your hair and completely ignored her question. “Ms. Toriel, where am I?”

”In the RUINS, do I need to repeat—?”

”No no, I mean,” You thought for a moment before throwing your scratched up hands in the air almost dramatically as you were overcome with hysteria. “What is this place? Who are you?” You brought your callused hands back down but pointed at her. Yes, that may have came off a bit rude to demand answers, but you had just been pushed down a deep hole by a witch of some sorts and that usually didn't put someone in the best mood.

”Where are you?” She laughed. “You’re inside Ebott Mountain— the Underground— my child. And you’ll stay with me if you know what’s good for you. Those monsters out there will eat you alive. . . . Do take that statement literal. From the time when I left the kingdom to live here,” Toriel shook her head solemnly, then looked back at you. “They all had gone feral— took the human term for a monster and became that. Not what we used to be.” You thought for a moment before looking at the child who you assumed was Frisk. They only shrugged and continued on with some puzzles they found as you spoke with Ms. Toriel.

“ _Used to be?_ ” Your eyes narrowed.

”Come along and help Frisk with these puzzles and I may answer all your questions as well as fix you up-- you're all scratched to bits!” She exclaimed before walking on ahead, deeper into the dwelling place of the monsters’ ruins.

——

You and Frisk hadn't talked much on your way through the puzzles-- actually, they hadn't talked at all. You just kept blabbering until you thought they were ignoring you, only asking them or giving them ideas to solve the difficult puzzles as the two of you went on. You both had met and helped some fairly . . . interesting characters to say the least, from soothing an oddly terrified dummy to making an angry yet mourning ghost crack a gentle smile. After the last puzzle, you came upon a worn down home from the Earth's weather up above. You were about to knock when you could feel your bruised arm being tugged at from behind you. Surprised, you looked back to see Frisk signing something to you before reaching behind them and pulling out a squished, sun-kissed yellow bundle of evening primroses. A soft "awe" escaped your throat, and even though you couldn't understand them and now knew they were mute, you thanked them kindly. (Even if you felt silly for thinking you annoyed them.)

"Oh, I need to get you a gift then, I suppose." You patted their head with an added grin and knocked on the door, placing the flowers into your water bottle pocket and looking behind you one last time to see a beautiful toothy smile of their own. The door opened to reveal Toriel's bright smile. She nodded once, pulling the door open wider for the two of you to enter without a problem.

"Ah, do come in, make yourselves at home and do not be afraid to look around!" The woman told you both as you entered her lovely, buttercup yellow home with a grateful smile. Frisk grew wide eyed with the most childish grin and you could tell they smelt the same sweetness from the kitchen area you did. "And yes, you may have some pie, little one." Toriel knelt down to their level to pat at their head, only making them smile and embracing her quickly until running off after a moment's notice. She shook her head and sat down in her brown arm chair while you took a seat in front of the fireplace. "Did you not want any pie, my child?" She questioned. "Oh, uhm, not at the moment, thank you. Actually," You muttered before scooting on your butt until you were in front of her chair, reaching behind your neck and unhooking your necklace, only to hold it in your hands like it was a baby. "Your robe and my locket have the same--!"

"The Delta Rune . . ." She muttered abruptly and clasped her hand over her mouth as if it was such a surprise to see it-- like she was seeing an old friend.

"The what?"

"I gave that to an old friend of mine so long ago, she had fought bravely with my ex-husband's military for my kingdom in the War of Humans and Monsters at the Battle at Sea against her own race and led them to victory; where did you get Murdina's locket?" She asked and hesitantly took it with shaky paws, examining how the gold had aged over time with such care and utter joy present on her face.

"She's an ancestor of mine." You proclaimed with a soft smile as the goat woman looked back up at you, slowly cupping your face with her warm hand.

"You have her eyes."

It was silent after that, and after a moment of recollection, she gave you back the locket and shook her head with pure happiness. You spoke again after placing it back on your chest, feeling it radiate with a pulsing energy you couldn't describe-- you decided not to ask. "What was the war about? My race said you had killed so many and we were only using self defense . . ." You trailed off, guessing the humans had lied through their teeth until everyone believed it to be true. Toriel sighed sadly and leaned back, looking at the ceiling in pure thought.

"It was like yesterday when war broke out-- both humans and monsters ruled the Earth. One day, it seemed out of the blue when the humans' king Cathmore attacked the monsters mercilessly out of fear that we would take their souls to wipe out the human race-- why, I have no idea," She shook her head with a sad laugh. "Out of mass hysteria? Yet we lived together in peace, I . . . anyway, us monsters were too weak to put up a fight; the soul of nearly every monster combined is only just as strong as the power of one human soul. Countless monsters were slaughtered without a single human soul taken. Few monsters survived each battle-- we were only able to drive them away with our own human soldiers without killing a single one-- it was against our morals to slaughter anyone. Eventually, the we had surrendered to keep our population in check, and the humans were victorious. The king gathered seven of his best magicians and sealed the us underneath this mountain with a magic spell.

"We had repopulated underground, and I even had my first born son and a human child to call my own-- they were the best of friends until the human got sick after one of their silly pranks, I . . . Asriel absorbed their soul to take them to their final resting place-- a field of buttercups past the barrier. Only a monster could escape with a human soul. After placing them down in the flowers the humans attacked and killed my son," She spat bitterly, tears forming in her eyes. "I saw him dust in front of me just as he made it back in and my human child's soul broke soon after. Oh, how mad my husband was. He vowed to kill every human to come here, gather seven souls and break the barrier so monster-kind can take revenge-- now they're all . . . animals. It's absolutely horrendous, so I left. Each child had left and promised to come back, yet . . . The last was twenty years ago. He only needs one more and I can't lose another."

You sat silent as her head fell into her paws and she mourned loudly with a hiccup, you only standing on your feet to comfort her as best you could in the silence. ". . . But I need to get out of here, Toriel. Please, I will not make you disappointed." She only laughed and lifted her head.

"You even sound like her." The old woman chortled wistfully with a small sniff from her snout. "I . . . I suppose if you promise to call me as soon as you make it to Snowdin." Toriel placed a brick-like phone into your hands, which you assumed to be a Motorola and an old iPhone mashed together, seemingly able to work without battery. (Human phones probably didn't work down here, anyways.) You nodded gratefully in agreement and hugged her one last time before placing it into your backpack. You turned around mid-shove, still holding your bag after hearing a loud burp to see Frisk sobbing dramatically with a large piece of pie shoved in their mouth.

"Hey, did you save me any?"

" . . . !!!"

They quickly scrambled away and ran down the stairs.

"Oh, come on!" You joked, rolling your eyes and looked at back at Toriel who only shooed you on. "Downstairs, the last door. Do you have a coat?" You nodded once again and pulled it out of your backpack while you still had it out, shoving it over your sweater before putting your backpack on again. "It might be a little chilly once you leave-- tread lightly, all right?"

"Yes, ma'am." You concurred and walked towards the old steps before descending and waving to her as a final, physical goodbye.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to the Undertale amino for helping me describe the war in better detail then I would have!


End file.
